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The privatisation of Royal Mail is not a sell-off driven by Thatcherite ideology but a decision based on the commercial needs of attracting investment into the state postal network, the minister in charge of the sale said last night.

In a speech that came against a backdrop of threats of industrial action by Royal Mail workers against privatisation, Michael Fallon, the Business Minister, said that the sale process had begun under the last Labour administration.

“The Government’s intention to sell Royal Mail shares is not unique,” Mr Fallon said, pointing to privatisations in recent years in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria